Politics & Diplomacy
FT: US threatens to freeze PURL and intelligence sharing unless Kyiv stops strikes on Russian energy infrastructure
The Trump administration has threatened to suspend the mechanism through which US weapons are bought for Ukraine unless Kyiv stops hitting Russian energy infrastructure, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, October 11, citing European officials.
Donald Trump’s administration has threatened to suspend the mechanism through which US weapons are bought for Ukraine unless Kyiv stops its strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, October 11, citing European officials.
Calls to Kyiv and European capitals
US officials conveyed the warnings in phone calls with Kyiv and with European capitals on October 10 and 11, according to officials who took part in or were briefed on the conversations. Washington also threatened to stop sharing intelligence with Ukraine. The White House declined to confirm or comment on the calls.
The mechanism under threat is the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), through which allies fund the purchase of American weapons for Ukraine’s armed forces. It was created in the summer of 2025 in coordination between NATO and the United States and lets Europeans pay for US weapons sent to Ukraine. A suspension would cut one of Kyiv’s main routes to American weapon systems such as air defence. Ending intelligence sharing would also make targeting and early warning of Russian attacks harder.
Trump’s “energy ceasefire”
The pressure came before Trump’s announcement, the same Sunday, that Moscow and Kyiv had agreed to stop attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure. “An ENERGY CEASEFIRE is in effect from this moment in the Russia-Ukraine war. Both sides have agreed. Do not violate it!” he wrote on Truth Social, as we reported in our story on the “energy ceasefire”.
The office of Volodymyr Zelensky said it was not aware of any agreement. A senior Ukrainian official said crews were still trying to restore electricity and water in Kyiv after Russian strikes when the announcement was made. “Nobody has heard of it,” the official noted. After the announcement, Russia hit a power generation plant in Kharkiv. Earlier, Zelensky had expressed support in an ABC interview for a pause in attacks on energy infrastructure.
Tension between Washington and Kyiv has risen in recent days. Trump said Ukraine needs a new president and decided on a deal with Russia over diesel after Zelensky refused to unilaterally stop strikes on Russian refineries (see our report on Trump on Zelensky). A Ukrainian delegation had travelled to the United States for talks on the energy ceasefire.
